The University of Macau’s Moon Chun Memorial College (MCMC) and Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) jointly organized the “From Spark to Start: Entrepreneurship Training Course.” The opening ceremony took place successfully on September 26, attracting about 30 undergraduate students from diverse faculties, including the Faculty of Science and Technology, Faculty of Business Administration, Faculty of Health Sciences, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, and Faculty of Education.

This course aims to create a platform for cultivating entrepreneurial thinking through a structured training program, inspiring students to develop innovative and entrepreneurial mindsets while promoting interdisciplinary communication and collaboration.

Professor Kwok Cheung Cheung, Master of MCMC, emphasized during the opening ceremony that the college is committed to a “holistic education” approach that empowers student growth. This collaboration will harness the strengths of both institutions to provide students with a broader learning and practical platform. The course title, “From Spark to Start,” signifies that innovation and entrepreneurship begin with a small spark of inspiration, but transforming that spark into tangible results requires knowledge accumulation, scientific verification, team support, and persistent effort. The curriculum covers the application of research outcomes, practical team collaboration, and the development of entrepreneurial mindsets. Professor Cheung encouraged students to actively engage in learning and practice, turning their “spark” into a “starting point” for a solid foundation in their future learning and lives.

Dr. Grace Lu, an assistant professor at CIE, noted that the center serves as an incubator for entrepreneurial dreams, dedicated to helping students, faculty, and alumni translate their ideas and research into practical projects while fostering a spirit of entrepreneurship that embraces failure. She hopes students will be inspired to cultivate innovative awareness through the course, mastering entrepreneurial methods and tools, and looks forward to the collaboration generating more innovative ideas and expanding future opportunities for communication and cooperation.

The course features contributions from three professors who provided real research outcomes as topics for student teams: Professor Edwin Cheung from the Faculty of Health Sciences, Associate Professors Tianwei Hao and Yanwei Jia, and Assistant Professor Ren Shen from the Faculty of Science and Technology. At the opening ceremony, several mentors were present to introduce their projects to the students.

The entire program consists of seven components, allowing students to acquire entrepreneurship-related knowledge through various workshops, including business, finance, legal courses, corporate sharing sessions, and business plan writing. Students will apply this knowledge to their projects, conducting target audience analysis, market evaluations, product assessments, and developing marketing strategies and profit models. They will ultimately complete their business plans and project presentations by November.

This collaboration fosters communication and cooperation between MCMC and CIE, providing students with invaluable practical opportunities to cultivate interdisciplinary talents equipped with innovative thinking and practical skills, thereby driving the robust development of Macao’s innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem.